Another tornado ripped through my house these last few days as I got a pile of stuff done between shows. Sometimes I get dizzzzy…  Now its 10pm and in 10 minutes I’m off to Seattle… the van is packed… got my satellite radio, my ipod, my camera and tripod, and my electric cattle prod for that 3am wake up call.

This image was saved from oblivion last night - I decided to let it live. It was shot last year in Chinatown, San Francisco but it never really got my gears going until yesterday, when I looked at a print of it again.

Alleys & Fire Escapes, no. 109 - Passage (2007, San Francisco, CA)

Cosmos (not Kramer), 2001

…shot  in the last surviving farm in Toronto (now more of a farm museum), with the day’s last minute of sunlight skimming the flower’s delicate surface…

I flew back to California today. Pam came along this time, since she’s from Ann Arbor and has friends and family there.

I have 2 days to get a whack of stuff done before I drive the 14 hours to Seattle for another show. I spent the evening printing.

This is one of the few photographs that I don’t remember taking… but there it was, on a roll of film with which I’d been shooting flowers. The flower’s name is an odd irony.

Myosotis sylvatica (Forget-Me-Not), 2002

I saw WALL-E last night. Fantastic!!  The film is great on so many levels, but one in particular that relates to my art. The film is set in an apocalyptic future where humans have had to escape an Earth that they (we) have made unlivable. The opening scenes (which then run through half the movie) blew me away: a huge city, after hundreds of years void of people. Skyscrapers crumbling, streets deserted and full of rubble, a layer of dust and ash on everything… I don’t know why, but I could stare at scenes like these for hours, maybe days. Its by no means a future or a scenario I want, in fact the opposite is true. I fear this ending. But I remain mesmerized, and I know many others do, likely you since you are reading this.

NBC in Detroit (Channel 4),  interviewed me today.  It was a good, long interview with visuals of many of my images, which was great because artists need all the exposure they can get!!

This is a technical response to an email I received.  Read this in place of a sleeping pill. 

QUESTION: 

Hello X.N.,
My son and I saw your work at the Des Moines art show.  We really liked your work and spoke with you for a while about the night shots you do.  We’ve been contemplating trying some shots of our own.  You said, and correct me if I’m wrong, that you use 100 or 200 speed film, and that you use 30 to 45 minute exposures.  And judging from the depth of field in your photos, I’m guessing that your aperture is as small as it can go.  (forgive my lack of photography lingo).  How much “filling in” do you do with the flash?  For instance, the picture on your website of “San Francisco ruins”….  how much of that had to be filled in with flash and how much is sodium and mercury vapor?  How many flashes per position?  What time of day was it (at what time of the year)?  Was there moonlight?   I hope you don’t mind an amatuer pestering you for tips, but I was fascinated by your work (note shameless flattery).  I also enjoy the photos on “lost america”… google that if you haven’t seen it before.    
One last question, could one use a faster film (400) / shorter exposure (10 min) and still get the same effects / quality.
Thanks for your time and thanks for coming to DM and inspiring us.  Hope to see you next year. 
JJ

RESPONSE:

I learned most of my techniques through trial and error - there is no formula that will explain the way every shot was done, as each image is a custom built photograph. The best way to learn this is just by going out shooting. Having said that, here’s some information you should find useful.
First, the film…
I use Kodak Ultra 100asa film. Its a film that gives me very rich colors. The 120mm film version was discontinued a year ago (but I have a 10-year supply of it in the freezer… bouahahahah!!). They may still have it in 35mm. The film I used before this was Agfa Ultra 50 asa 120mm. I used it from Alley 25 to Alley 57. I took a 4-year break (between #57 and #58) from shooting alleys for several reasons. When I returned, the Agfa had been discontinued and I wanted to cry because it was such an amazing film. It may still be available in 35mm, in which case I’d suggest you start with that. I then discovered Kodak Ultra (which also gives me great colors at night), so the heartache was short-lived, but I learned my lesson, which explains the freezer-full.
The lower the asa, the richer and more contrasty your colors will be (plus the image will be sharper and less grainy). If I shot with a 400asa film, a 60-minute shot would be reduced to 15-minutes, which is great, but the final result would be an inferior image, which is not so great.
Exposure time:
My exposures run from less than a minute (rare) to 90-minutes (rare). Most run in the 10-15-minute range. All the controls are customized for the specific shot, so although I want the aperture to be closed down to get everything in focus, sometimes it is almost wide-open. Stadium and Window Fire and others were almost wide open because the settings were extremely dark. Closing another stop for Stadium would have given me greater depth of field (which I wish I had), but would have meant a 3-hour exposure, instead of the 90-minutes I opted for. A side note: closing “all the way” can be detrimental to image quality. Optimal is roughly 80% closed down.
Lighting:
Once again every shot is unique. I’ve used everything from a small pen light to hi-lite a tiny area (the street poster gun in Can’t Sleep), to enough lighting to fill most of the frame (Green Door). And when I started the series in 1991 and for several years, I forbid myself from using any of my lighting (or even moving anything at all), under punishment of death.

         
Today I light most of my images. A recent example is Angel Luis. During this 10-minute exposure I walked/ran around with a 30CC Green Lee gel on my flash, pointing it down, firing it, and doing what’s called “light painting.” The 30CC replicates fluorescent lighting on daylight balanced film. I have a whole set of Lee gels (i.e. filters for lights) that I look through to decide on my lighting.  WAKE UP, WAKE UP! I’M NOT FINISHED!
I then switched gels to a 1/2 CTB (blue) Lee gel and continued my lighting, again firing it numerous times.

          
“Goast Pier,” my recent San Francisco pier shot is a case where I used a hi-powered halogen spot light to light the entire building, a quarter of a mile away in the background. I used the same spot to light parts of the pier and its legs. These features were dark at the site, and their amazing detail had to be seen. The city light at the scene was sodium vapor, which creates an almost neon orange color on (my) film. My halogen lighting is also orange on film, though of a different quality.
All the Alley images are shot long after dark, although some sun can creep in in the form of moonlight. The effect of this light is mainly seen in the blue skies at night. When moonlight is mixed with a sodium vapor-filled sky, the result is a pink or purple hue.

So now you know my secrets, and as they say… now I must kill you…

I just drove into Ann Arbor, MI (from Chicago), where I’m doing a show this week. I lived here for 3 years before moving to California. Its a beautiful town, full of good people. I had a very, very crappy 4-hour sleep in the front seat of my van last night at a truck stop. So now I’m in bed at my in-laws looking forward to a nice, looooooooooong nap……………………………..

Here are some more pictures of beautiful Chicago…

This is the Tribune Tower courtyard, where the show was held:

window washers:

A landing pod for the soon-to-arrive alien ship. They land sideways onto curved surfaces on their planet. Why didn’t we think of that… Doh!

This is a new release I’m very happy with. You can read the story behind it in my blog entry

http://www.nuez.com/blog/jesus/

Sometimes its hard to find an internet connection on the road - especially when you’re not staying in hotels. This is the first time in 3 days I’ve gotten a signal. I’m at my friend’s, John, and we’re about to go to a party hosted by Mike and Jim, who were with me when I shot Hallmark (Alley #94).

On my way to Chicago from Des Moines 3 days ago, I drove into a tornado warning. These were shot in Iowa.

an ambulance racing by

I spent the greater part of the day freaking out as it finally dawned on me that my schedule is completely out of control. I’m at the airport in San Francisco, on my way to a show in Chicago. After my 18-hour drive from Denver, I had two sleep deprived days to get a thousand things done (I counted). In the end, I got maybe 3 or 4 out of the way in a mad frenzy. Several times I wanted to just walk out of my shop and say F it. But I have some good assistants including Rowen Jin, who is doing great work for me. And my wife Pam is good at reminding me to just take a deep breath and relax.  

I lived over fifteen years on the edge, as a starving artist - usually just scaping by. I’ve found success in just the last two or three years. I feel like I have to work my butt off so I don’t lose my grip on this. I hope this feeling tapers off…

I’m gone for 10 days to do two shows, and when I return, I’ll have two days again to try and keep it all from crashing and burning before leaving again for another show. When I return that time, I’ll have two and a half days… This will be a recurring scenario until early October (hopefully by the end I’ll still have a few pieces of art to sell, since keeping up my inventory is one of my problems right now) . Oh well, such is life. This ridiculous schedule won’t last forever, and I am incredibly lucky to finally be making a good living as an artist.

Its time to go to my happy place…

Echinacea (shot in 2000)